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BAME Labour
BAME Labour (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Labour), formerly the Black Socialist Society until 2007, is a socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party made up of black, Asian and ethnic minority Labour Party supporters.
After black socialist societies were defunct for over a decade, the Black Socialist Society was reconstituted into BAME Labour in 2007. Ahmad Shahzad was elected its first chair and the name was changed with Chuka Umunna, BAME Labour Executive Member at the time, writing that the rationale was that "'black' is no longer used as a political term as widely as it once was" and that "different people have different understandings of the nature and meaning of 'socialism': some associate the word with notions of wholesale nationalization, a centrally controlled economy etc.; others more loosely associate the word with general notions of social justice and generally 'what a Labour government does'."
Since March 2007, Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East, has represented BAME Labour. Vaz is its directly elected representative on the Labour Party's ruling and governing National Executive Committee (NEC).
The mission statement of BAME Labour states that it "seeks to empower ethnic minority members within the Labour Party and campaigns for greater representation of ethnic minority communities in public life". Through encouraging increased participation in the political process BAME Labour empowers its members. It is a democratically constituted membership organisation which is affiliated to the Labour Party but is politically and organisationally independent.
The organisation evolved, from Labour Party Black Sections to the Black Socialist Society to BAME Labour. Similar to Socialist Societies, it has an autonomous status, a separate constitution, joining fee, processes and admits people who are not Labour Party members. Whereas, like a Section, it is granted a fully independent NEC representative – regardless of how low its membership drops – and it is entirely administered by Labour Party staff.
A £5 fee provides members with a two-year membership. BAME Labour's elected officers including the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are not allowed access to the membership data, finances or the running of the organisation's elections. This lies solely in the power of Labour Party staff. It holds a guaranteed place on Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) and three places on the party's National Policy Forum (NPF), matching and mirroring the NEC place and NPF representation shared by the other 15 socialist societies.
The Labour Party Rule Book states that: "The NEC shall comprise one member elected by the BAME Labour. This member to be elected once the individual membership of the socialist society has reached 2,500." Candidates are required 20 supporting nominations from individual members, which must be collected in the form of paper-based signatures. Photocopied or scanned signatures are not allowed. Candidates who receive the support of a socialist society or trade union need fewer signatures, however, the same rules about how they are collected apply.
In October 2010, BAME Labour had 3,363 members (the third largest affiliate, behind Fabian Society and Labour Students) and issued that many ballot papers in that year's leadership election. At the time, Labour Party membership was 177,559. The then-general secretary of the Fabian Society Sunder Katwala noted the low turnout in the BAME Labour election. The turnout amongst BAME Labour's membership was 11.7 per cent. Out of 3363 ballots distributed, just 392 votes were cast, and of these 137 were spoilt ballots. Just 255 votes for leadership candidates were registered with David Miliband receiving 78 per cent of the vote.
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BAME Labour
BAME Labour (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Labour), formerly the Black Socialist Society until 2007, is a socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party made up of black, Asian and ethnic minority Labour Party supporters.
After black socialist societies were defunct for over a decade, the Black Socialist Society was reconstituted into BAME Labour in 2007. Ahmad Shahzad was elected its first chair and the name was changed with Chuka Umunna, BAME Labour Executive Member at the time, writing that the rationale was that "'black' is no longer used as a political term as widely as it once was" and that "different people have different understandings of the nature and meaning of 'socialism': some associate the word with notions of wholesale nationalization, a centrally controlled economy etc.; others more loosely associate the word with general notions of social justice and generally 'what a Labour government does'."
Since March 2007, Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East, has represented BAME Labour. Vaz is its directly elected representative on the Labour Party's ruling and governing National Executive Committee (NEC).
The mission statement of BAME Labour states that it "seeks to empower ethnic minority members within the Labour Party and campaigns for greater representation of ethnic minority communities in public life". Through encouraging increased participation in the political process BAME Labour empowers its members. It is a democratically constituted membership organisation which is affiliated to the Labour Party but is politically and organisationally independent.
The organisation evolved, from Labour Party Black Sections to the Black Socialist Society to BAME Labour. Similar to Socialist Societies, it has an autonomous status, a separate constitution, joining fee, processes and admits people who are not Labour Party members. Whereas, like a Section, it is granted a fully independent NEC representative – regardless of how low its membership drops – and it is entirely administered by Labour Party staff.
A £5 fee provides members with a two-year membership. BAME Labour's elected officers including the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are not allowed access to the membership data, finances or the running of the organisation's elections. This lies solely in the power of Labour Party staff. It holds a guaranteed place on Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) and three places on the party's National Policy Forum (NPF), matching and mirroring the NEC place and NPF representation shared by the other 15 socialist societies.
The Labour Party Rule Book states that: "The NEC shall comprise one member elected by the BAME Labour. This member to be elected once the individual membership of the socialist society has reached 2,500." Candidates are required 20 supporting nominations from individual members, which must be collected in the form of paper-based signatures. Photocopied or scanned signatures are not allowed. Candidates who receive the support of a socialist society or trade union need fewer signatures, however, the same rules about how they are collected apply.
In October 2010, BAME Labour had 3,363 members (the third largest affiliate, behind Fabian Society and Labour Students) and issued that many ballot papers in that year's leadership election. At the time, Labour Party membership was 177,559. The then-general secretary of the Fabian Society Sunder Katwala noted the low turnout in the BAME Labour election. The turnout amongst BAME Labour's membership was 11.7 per cent. Out of 3363 ballots distributed, just 392 votes were cast, and of these 137 were spoilt ballots. Just 255 votes for leadership candidates were registered with David Miliband receiving 78 per cent of the vote.